Washing-machine clutch mechanism



J'm. -5 1925. y 1,568,390

O. B. WOODROW WASHING MACHINE CLUTCH MECHANISM 1FJerlled Sept. 27, 1921 laektar Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED -STATES OLIVER B. WOODROW, F NEWTON, IOWA.

WASHING-MACHINE CLUTCH MECHANISM.

Application led September 27, 1921. Serial No. 503,642.

To all whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OLIVER B. WooDRow,

a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of Newton, in the county of Jasper and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Washing-Machine Clutch :Mechnism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric washing machines, and particularly to improvements in clutch devices in the class of washing machines suchfas illustrated and described in my Patent. Number 1.275,- 515, issued August 13, 1918.

In this patent, the clutch member 40 is splined to a shaft 31, which shaft is driven by means of suitable gearing devices, a part of which is replaced in my present application by a belt. The clutch 40 is designed to operate a crank wheel 34 which is loosely mounted on a shaft, the said crank Wheel being designed to actuate the .agitator shaft through the links 20 and 35 and the rocker arm ,19.

I have found by'actual practice that ya large amount of play is developed between the clutch 4() and the spline .to which it is o eratively mounted on the shaft *31, and also seme play develops between the clutch 0 members 4() and 41 atter the machine has been operated for some time. In fact it is almost impossible to machine lthe parts so they will fit without play and `at the same time be easy to operate to throw the machine into and out of gear. When play between the clutch 40 and the shaft 31 has developed, a-sort of intermittent movement of the crank wheel 34 will be produced, and also a Apounding noise las the said crank passes its dead centers.

It is, therefore, the object of my invention to provide in connection with a washing machine employing a crank member with means for throwing the said crank into and out of gear with a continuously operating shaft, an improved clutch device for connecting the continuously operating shaft and the crank member in such a manner that as :the two members are in operative relation with each other, all play and noise will be elimi-v nated.

A further object is to provide in a washing machine having an electric motor and .a mechanism tfor actuating a washing member, improved means for throwing the w members into and 'out of operative Arelation with the 4said electric motor.

Asti-lliturther Aobject isto provide a clutch device 'for throwing washing machines into and out of gear of simple, durable and inexpensive ymtruction.

These and other objects will apparent tothese skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement und combination of fthe 'various parts ofthe device, whereby lthe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in fthe accompanying dra-wings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevationof a washing machine embed-ying my invention.

Figure' 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure I3 Ais a Idetail sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail side elevation of one o f the :clutch members of ymy improved device.

The numeral l() indicates vgenerally a frame of a washing Vmechineupon which is pivotally meunteda tub 11.

Mounted `in the .tub 11 is an agitator shaft 12 upon vwhich is mounted .a pinion :gear 13 which. is operatively connected with a rack bar 14.

The free end of the rack bar 14 is pivotally `mounted to .the upper end :of a rocker arm 15 having its .central portion 16 pivoted to a ,bracket member 17, this bracket being secured t-o .one side of the tub 11.

The lower end of `the rocker arm 15 is provided with a pivoted link 18 which is for the :purpose of imparting an oscillating movement to the bar 15 and motion to the agitator shaft 12, this mechanism being similar to that disclosed in my previous patent as above mentioned.

F or operating the link 18, I have provided the following mechanism:

Rotatively mounted within the trame 10, I have provided .a .shaft 19 provided at one end with a beveled gear 2O which is in mesh with a beveled gear 2l secured to the lower end of a vertically arranged shaft 22. This shaft 22 is for the purpose of driving the wringer mechanism not shown.

Oneend of the shaft 19 is lmounted in a bearing zmember 23, while ythe `opposite end is mounted .in Aa hub .of a .gear L25. This `lub is rotatively mounted in a bearing carried by a bracket 2. 'lhis bracket 2l' and the bearing member L13 are supported in the trame ill. fie gear is rigidly secured to the shalt by means oi' a pin LID ltotativeiy mounted in the supporting brackets oi the bearings and in 'front oit the shalt 19, i have provided a shait provided with a pinion Si and designed to mesh with the teeth or the gear 25.

r`ihe inner end or trie sha't 50 is provided with a beltwheel 32 driven by means of a motor through a belt 3a. fhe belt 3a' is provided with an idler pulley mounted on a pivotally mounted arm and so arranged that the weight or the pulley 35, and the said arm 3o, will always hold the beit tight and automatically taire up any stretch oi". the belt ltotatively and slidably mounted on the inner end or the shat't it), l ha ve provided a disc having a hub Jb and a rim portion 39.

rEhe outer tace or the disc 3T is provided with a crank pin si() operatively connected with the link lll. 'ihe inner iace or the disc 3T is provided with two semi-annular flanges li, each or the said llanges being provided with a, enlarged clutch portion The adjacent iaces or the members are radial and also slightly taperet, as clearly shown in Figure 2.

The gear is provided with lugs ed which have tapering faces which are designed to coact with the tapering faces ot' the members l2 when the disc 3i" is in one o'l its positions upon the shaft 19.

l? or moving the disc 37, l have provided a yolxze member all having each end provided with inwardly extending flanges Ll designed to receive the rim 89 or the disc 3T between them.

The member ist is provided with an arm which is rigidly secured to a shaft ai'. The inner end or the shaft 1l?, as clearly shown in Figure 3, is provided with a spring` i8 and a washer di), the washer being secured in position by neans of a hey The spring 4S is so arranged tnat the shaft la7 will be moved longitudinallaand inwardly, and will cause the members 42 of the Vflanges Lli to engage the tapering blocks of the gear 25.

lj'ivoially mounted on the outer end of the shaft l? is a lever 5l extending upwardly through a cam slot 52 or a plate 53. llhis plate 53 is secured to one of the members o'l the iiranie l0, the slot 52 being provided with an inclined and diagonally arranged portion, and also with a pocket portion By this arrangement, it will be seen that as the lever 51 is given a limited rotary `movement about the center ot' the shaft el?, thesaid lever will be moved outwardly and the shalt eli" moved longitudinally until the lever 5l engages the pocket 5st, which lever will then be held in said pocket by the action oi" the spring 48.

`When the lever 5l is in the pocket 54, the members 42 will be moved out ot engagenient with the members a3.

liy this arrangement, it will be seen that it the lever il is in the position shown in Figure 2, the clutch members Ll2 and 43 will be in engagement with each other. As the "iter 323 is rotated, the belt 34 will drive nilley rihis in turn will drive the shalt and the pinion 3l causing the gear to be rotated, and the lugs di) will cause the disc 3T to be rotated, and with it the i ail; 40, and the linli i8 actuated, which will cause the agitator shaiit l2 to be operated through the mechanism before dcswribed.

This provides means whereby the disc may be positively driven through the gear 25 without noise or play, and also so arranged that the members 4t2 will easily and quickly disengage the members Li3 with a minimum amount ot power.

The members Ll2 and il?) are placed a eonsiderable distance irom the center or the shaft l) to further eliminate the tendency toward looseness between the said members as the crank 18 pas es its dead center.

By @loving the lever 5l to the pocket 5a, as betere described, the agitator member may ne thrown out of gear with the gear 25. The gear 25 being rigidly secured to the shaft i9 is also designed to impart motion to the wringer oic the shaft 22.

I have, therefore, provided a clutch device oit simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive Construction which is particulari),v adapted to throw crank mechanism into and out of gear with a continuously rotating member.

l claim as my invention:

l. i. shaft, a clutch member or disk formation, said clutch member having one of its faces provided with a series of tapering lugs projecting parallel with the aXis 0i the shaft, a second clutch member of disk :torination rotatively and slidably mounted on said sha-ift and parallel with the first said ciutcli member, said second clutch member being provided with a pair of semi-circular laterallyY extending flanges, the adjacent ends ot said flanges each being provided with a lug, the lug ot one of said flanges being spaced apart Jfrom the corresponding one of the opposite ange, the inner faces of said lugs being tapered to coact with the tapered races ot the lugs of the first said clutch member when the second clutch member is moved to its inward limit of movement, and means or moving said second clutch member toward and from said first clutch member.

2. A shaft, a clutch member of disk formation, said clutch member having one of its faces provided with a series of tapering lugs projecting parallel with the axis of the shaft, a second clutch member of' disk formation rotatively and slidably mounted on said shaft and parallel with the first said clutch member, said second clutch member being rovided with a pair of semi-circular lateral y extending flanges, the adjacent ends of said flanges each being provided with a lug, the lug of one of said flanges being spaced apart from the corresponding one of the opposite flange, the inner faces of said lugs being tapered to coact with the tapered faces of the lugs of the first said clutch member when the second clutch member is moved to its inward limit of movement, a second shaft parallel with the first said shaft and capable of longitudinal movement, a yoke member rigidly secured to said second shaft, said yoke member being designed to encircle substantially one-half of the outer edofe of the second disk, each end of said yoke member being provided with inwardly extending flanges to engage the opposite sides of said second clutch member, and yieldable means on said second shaft for yieldably holding the clutch members of said second disk in engagement with the clutch members of the first said disk.

3. A shaft, a clutch member of disk formation, said clutch member having one of its faces provided with a series of tapering lugs projecting parallel with the axis of the shaft, a second clutch member of disk formation rotatively and slidably mounted on said shaft and parallel with the first said clutch member, said second clutch member being provided with a pair of semi-circular laterally extending flanges, the adjacent ends of said flanges each being provided with a lug, the lug of one of said flanges being spaced apart from the corresponding one of the opposite flange, the inner faces of said lugs being tapered to coact with the tapered faces of the lugs of the first said clutch member when the second clutch member is moved to its inward limit of movement, a second shaft parallel with the first said shaft and capable of longitudinal movement, a yoke member rigidly secured to said second shaft, said yoke member being designed to encircle substantially one-half of the outer edge of the second disk, each end of said yoke member being provided with inwardly extending flanges to engage the opposite sides of said second clutch member, yieldable means on said second shaft for yieldably holding the clutch members of said second disk in engagement with the clutch members of the first said disk, and a crank pin for the said second clutch member, substantially as described and for the purposes stated.

Des Moines, Iowa, September 20, 1921.

' OLIVER B. WOODROW. 

